Musings on India, the law, and policy
Posted in corruption, Court, Democracy on Jun 23rd, 2011
Here’s a chart that details the differences between both versions of the LokPal bill – the editors at The Hindu were kind enough to carry my comparison as a cool graphic today in Op-ed. I’m attaching the chart in a text-only, PDF format below – anyone is free to use this, with or without attribution. But if [...]
Half a pound of tuppenny rice, Half a pound of treacle. That’s the way the money goes, Pop! goes the weasel When the citizens and civil society resist and contest government actions, attack its nonchalance and ineffectiveness, the Court seems to the the only organ that stands out of harms way. Most citizens even look [...]
The West Bengal legislative assembly turned an astonishing page in India’s democratic history today, when it passed legislation with the sole aim of returning land to farmers from whom it was acquired in Singur. If ‘experts’ are crying hoarse about civil society’s law-making schemes, then they surely ought to sit up and notice this legislative [...]
In the past few days, the anti- posco campaign has witnessed brutal force from the state and our hearts go out to the tribals and civil society members who are resisting this use of force. Below is the recent update from the ground; ………………………. 11th June 2011 Dear Friends, More than 3000 villagers have formed [...]
Posted in Democracy on Jun 9th, 2011
The recent acts of dissent from members of the civil society (Ramdev included?) have also witnessed the Government countering them by the imposition of Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. Headed as ‘Temporary Orders in cases of Urgent nuisance or apprehended Danger’, the provision sits right in the centre of a continuum [...]
Posted in Constitution, Democracy on Jun 5th, 2011
At midnight yesterday, we took one step further from democracy, towards authoritarianism. “I may disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it”, wrote Evelyn Hall in Friends of Voltaire (1906). The quote was later appropriated by Voltaire’s legacy and misattributed to the French philosopher himself. The [...]